British-Indian retirement film draws ill-served older audience, but pales against popularity of The Woman in Black
The winner
With an average cast age in their 60s, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel can hardly be said to be targeting the demographic that visits the cinema most frequently: young people. But the potency of the perennially ill-served older audience has once again been demonstrated. John Madden's comedy drama about elderly Brits seeking a cheaper retirement option in Jaipur has opened with a highly impressive £2.22m. That's certainly at the top end of expectations for a film starring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson plus Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel.
Back in 2003, Calendar Girls kicked off with £1.88m, but the comedy benefited from huge media interest in the real stripping Women's Institute ladies. Marigold Hotel is based on existing material – Deborah Moggach's novel These Foolish Things – but awareness levels are simply not comparable.
The older audience is famously dilatory when it comes to checking out films at the cinema, at least compared with younger segments, eager to be the first to see the latest offering. Calendar Girls went on to exceed £20m at the UK box office, more than 10 times its opening, and films including The Queen and The King's Speech have achieved similarly impressive multiples of debut takings. This bodes well for Marigold Hotel, assuming word of mouth is positive.
Although top sites on the title include perennial high achievers such as Odeon Leicester Square and Vue Westfield Shepherds Bush, it's less common to see Odeon Guildford, Cineworld Cheltenham and Odeon Tunbridge Wells in a film's top 10 venues. Top arthouse is Curzon Chelsea.
The contender
Beating Marigold Hotel on Friday, but falling behind on Saturday and Sunday, is action thriller Safe House, starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Still, backers Universal should be more than happy with a £2.14m debut for the South Africa-set picture. It's a significant improvement on the launch total for Washington's previous effort, runaway-train flick Unstoppable, which opened in November 2010 with £1.71m including £442,000 in previews.
The Taking of Pelham 123, another transport-themed Washington thriller, started with £1.78m including £311,000 in previews. The actor is acknowledged to be a less potent marketable asset in the UK than in his native US, where Safe House kicked box-office butt with a $40.2m opening.
The real winner
Despite the one-two punch of Marigold Hotel and Safe House, The Woman in Black reigns supreme at the UK box office for the third consecutive weekend. A relatively modest decline of 31%, the lowest of any film in the top 10, delivered third-frame takings of £2.43m, and a 17-day tally of £14.61m. War Horse is the only other 2012 release to achieve three weekend hauls of £2m-plus. A total of £20m-plus looks eminently achievable for the Daniel Radcliffe period horror.
The losers
Landing in 10th place, Katherine Heigl's action comedy One for the Money debuted with a weak £317,000. Not screened to UK critics for review, the film suffered from bad buzz, and earned a dire 22/100 rating at Metacritic. Opening four weeks earlier in the US, the picture has already been turfed out of most cinemas over there, and has maxed out with a poor $26m.
Heigl's Life As We Know It debuted in October 2010 with £986,000, while Killers, co-starring Ashton Kutcher, began its run a few months earlier with £1.05m including £309,000 in previews. Before that, The Ugly Truth, opposite Gerard Butler, kicked off with £1.98m including £727,000 in previews, while 27 Dresses achieved a similar opening of £1.75m including £256,000 in previews. Heigl's box-office has been sliding since Knocked Up, and One for the Money represents a new low for the actress.
Although occupying significantly fewer screens, three other titles similarly underperformed. The largely well-reviewed Rampart, starring Woody Harrelson, achieved a screen average of £1,366, grossing just over £102,000 from 75 sites. Previews push that number to £113,000. Australian doggie picture Red Dog convinced neither as mainstream family fare nor as a niche title for fans of Antipodean cinema. A £20,800 opening from 56 screens resulted, yielding a site average of £372. Previews push its tally to a scarcely better £24,700. Finally, desert period adventure Black Gold, starring Tahar Rahim, Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong and Freida Pinto, evaporated on contact with the market, with £11,000 from 95 sites, and a £116 average. Look for its screen count to plunge from Friday. If you plan to see it, don't dally.
The awards battle
Despite massive publicity for The Artist building up to its Oscars triumph on Sunday, the film still declined at the box-office, with a 33% dip. Backers Entertainment Films and The Weinstein Company will now be hoping that audience holdouts will finally crumble in the wake of those major Oscar wins, converting the current £7.58m to something closer to the £10m that the picture merits.
Meanwhile, The Descendants fell a more troubling 61%. With only an adapted screenplay win for the Alexander Payne title, it's hard to envision much further box-office traction. War Horse, with £18.09m, remains the only best picture Oscar nominee this year to achieve UK box-office above £8m.
The future
Despite strong openings for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Safe House, overall the market is 29% down on the equivalent weekend from 2011, when as many as 12 pictures grossed in excess of £500,000, compared with just four for the current frame. Takings have now trailed 2011 levels on all eight weekends of the year to date, with three of the frames seeing shortfalls of at least 25%. Matters may improve with the arrival of rival comedies This Means War, starring Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine, and Wanderlust, with Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston. Not benefiting from marquee cast names, but boasting a highly marketable premise (the most epic teen party ever), the 18-certificate Project X could deliver a surprise, replicating the success of the recent Chronicle.
Top 10 films
1. The Woman in Black, £2,432,580 from 451 sites. Total: £14,614,604
2. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, £2,222,051 from 504 sites (New)
3. Safe House, £2,142,872 from 424 sites (New)
4. The Muppets, £1,490,069 from 519 sites. Total: £12,859,481
5. Ghost Rider 3D: Spirit of Vengeance, £487,874 from 351 sites. Total: £2,311,650
6. The Vow, £480,085 from 308 sites. Total: £4,651,254
7. Journey 2 The Mysterious Island, £411,983 from 413 sites. Total: £5,788,145
8. Star Wars: Episode 1 3D, £404,962 from 330 sites. Total: £4,811,649
9. The Artist, £352,139 from 298 sites. Total: £7,584,476
10. One For The Money, £316,762 from 338 sites (New)
Other openers
Rampart, 75 sites. Total: £102,473 (+ £11,013 previews)
Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya, 44 sites. Total: £79,698
Red Dog, 56 sites. Total: £20,837 (+ £3,890 previews)
Laura, 4 sites. Total: £11,848
Jodi Breakers, 19 sites. Total: £11,215
Black Gold, 95 sites. Total: £11,004
Naachle London, 36 sites. Total: £3,357
The Adopted, 1 site. Total: £1,172
Blood Car, 7 sites. Total: £187
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/feb/28/best-exotic-marigold-hotel-uk-box-office
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